How to Improve Your English Skills Quickly: The S.I.M.P.L.E. Method

Almost every student I have ever had wants to learn English quickly and easily. Unfortunately, many students don’t understand that age, personal habits, and talent have a lot to do with learning English. Since age cannot be changed, and only some people are born with natural talent for language, we have to ask ourselves, “What is the only thing that we can personally change?”  That’s right, we can only change personal habits.

Therefore, I want to give 6 habits that will help you to improve your English as quickly as you are able.  These tips should help you to increase your skill no matter how much language learning talent you may have.

Below is an acronym called “S.I.M.P.L.E.”  This should help you to remember these six tips. (An acronym is a word in which each letter represents a word).

• Surround  yourself with English. This is very easy to do now that the internet has given us so many options. Sign up for Netflix, Hulu Plus, or some other English media service online.

• Imitate English speakers.  As you listen and absorb English, it is important to mimic or copy the sounds of English speakers in movies.  This can be done easily now through Youtube, movies, DVDs,  and there are good sites like English Central that will help you to do this.

• Make English speaking friends. In most countries, there are communities of Americans, Brits, or other native English speakers that you befriend. Many of them are looking for friends in a foreign land. If you are studying in the US or UK, you have no reason NOT to have at least 2-3 English speaking friends.

• Practice English daily.  There is a saying in English, “If you don’t use it, you will lose it.”  This is true for anything, but especially English. I have seen students leave the US, return four months later, and they have lost most of their English skill because they did not practice. If you leave your English study, practice by using Skype, chatrooms, Facebook, etc.

• Live in English.  This simply means to do things you would normally do in your native language in English. That means if you read the newspaper in Arabic, you would now read it in English. You homepage on your computer could be set to English, not your native language. Your music could be in English, and more.

• Experience cultures of English speakers.  Some students come to study English in America and never leave their dorms on the college campus. They do not have any American friends, they only talk to family or friends back home and go to class. This is not a good idea at all. Learn about American traditions, cultures, and history. This will help you to understand the American mind and give you a greater understanding of the language as a whole.